Patriots backups step up after injuries

It was no news and good news out of Gillette Stadium. A day after the Patriots' 41-28 win over the Houston Texans that propelled them into the AFC Championship for the seventh time in 12 seasons, coach Bill Belichick would have rather swallowed cyanide than discuss the status of injured All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski.

A day after the Patriots' 41-28 win over the Houston Texans that propelled them into the AFC Championship for the seventh time in 12 seasons, coach Bill Belichick would have rather swallowed cyanide than discuss the status of injured All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski.

“It's disappointing to not have Rob available,” Belichick said Monday during a conference call.

Gronkowski broke his left forearm while diving for a pass on the right sideline on the seventh play of the game. He reportedly had surgery Monday.

That's the same forearm Gronkowski broke in a win over the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 18. He had surgery the next day and missed five games before returning for the regular-season finale Dec. 30.

As was the case Sunday night, Belichick was asked if Gronkowski's arm was 100 percent healed entering the game.

The answer, very likely, is Gronkowski wasn't 100 percent. And that makes him like pretty much every player in the NFL from, say, October on.

Belichick was far more expansive when providing a health update on running back Danny Woodhead.

Woodhead suffered a thumb injury on the Patriots' first offensive snap while getting crushed by J.J. Watt and Glover Quin on a run for no gain. He didn't play again, but did return to the sideline early in the second quarter after getting examined by the medical and training staffs.

“Had we needed to use him, he would have been available to go back in there,” Belichick said. “Now that we're into a new week, we'll re-address the whole situation, try to get a good feel for what he would and wouldn't be able to do and how functional he would be doing it.

“I would say that that's something that we'll have to look at during the week, assuming that the doctors clear him to play, which is — that's a medical decision. Then the next situation would be from a football decision, what can he do, how well can he do it, what is he and are we comfortable with him doing in this week's game/game plan.”

The departures of Gronkowski and Woodhead created openings for tight end Michael Hoomanawanui and running Shane Vereen. Each player made the most of his opportunity.

Vereen rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and caught five of the six passes he was targeted for, generating 83 yards with 33 and 8 coming on touchdown receptions.

The sophomore played 38 of 66 snaps, according to espnboston.com. His previous high this season was 24.

Hoomanawanui played 50 of 59 snaps after Gronkowski went down. The third-year pro didn't have a carry or a catch, but his blocking was instrumental in helping limit the effectiveness of J.J. Watt and the rest of an outstanding Texans defensive line.

“Certainly Rob is a unique player, and he has some skills that allow you to do special things with him,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “I don't think it's really fair to say you just plug somebody in and off you go, but I thought Michael did a great job with the things we asked him to do. He certainly did a good job in protection and in the running game and really played a valuable role for us there.

“Shane stepped right into the (change-of-tempo) role that — Danny would have handled some of these things and Shane was designed to handle some of them anyway. I think really the next man up stepped up for us and did a good job and, again, they deserve the credit for that.”

That the Patriots were able to overcome the loss of two critical pieces of the offense seven minutes into the game impressed the person that matters most at 1 Patriot Place.

“I think that was a good example of our mental toughness and our ability to make adjustments and adapt to the situation at hand,” Belichick said. “I thought that was a positive in the game.”

The loss of Gronkowski is a definite negative. The Patriots did go 4-1 while he was out, but the loss came to the San Francisco 49ers, who are a prohibitive favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, and they struggled in wins over the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars, both of whom will be selecting early in April's draft.

That doesn't mean the Patriots don't have the means to beat the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC title tilt or claim their first Super Bowl championship in nine years. Only that it will be more difficult to do so.

“We've played a bunch of games now, we've never really been fully healthy yet — and obviously now won't be,” quarterback Tom Brady said during his weekly paid appearance on WEEI. “But you know what? We've still got a very good team.”

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